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Louis Dunn: 'The Forgotten Wages of War'

John Tirman, executive director of the Center for International Studies at M.I.T., wrote the best account I've seen on what he calls "The Forgotten Wages of War" in an op ed piece on the end of the Iraq War (New York Times 1/3/2012.) The piece inspired Louis Dunn's graphic comment.

"We rarely question that war cause extensive damage, but our view of America's wars has been blind to one specific aspect of destruction: the human toll of those who live in war zones," wrote Tirman. .

"We tune out the voices of the victims and belittle their complaints about the midnight raids, the house-to-house searches, the checkpoints, the drone attacks, the bombs that fall on weddings instead of Al Queda.

"Gen. Tommy R. Franks famously said during the early days of the war in Afghanistan, 'We don't do body counts.' But someone should."

Timan is author of "The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in American Wars."